ESPN.com currently has a SportsNation poll up asking, “If available, which player would you want your NFL team to draft?” The choices are geographically diverse: Dwayne Jarrett (USC), Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech), Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma), JaMarcus Russell (LSU), and Brady Quinn (Notre Dame). Incidentally, I chose Peterson, because I think he will do a great job as Brian Westbrook’s successor.
Though Johnson got the most overall votes, the voting is also broken down by state. Each of the five candidates won at least one state. Jarrett and Quinn, the two weakest candidates, won the states they play in (California and Indiana, respectively), and the other three were divided about as you would expect. Russell won Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama (and strangely, Michigan and Idaho), Peterson ruled the rest of the Southwest plus Ohio, and Johnson ruled Georgia and all points north and east.
It’s quite clear that people voted geographically for this one. Did Peterson win Ohio because all those Bengal fans didn’t want a quarterback? Another interesting, if divisive chart.
